As more details over Azerbaijan Airlines crash emerge, pilots and crew are hailed as heroes

Euronews ^ | 12/26/2024 | Staff

[marcusmaximus]

As harrowing details emerge of the last moments of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, which crashed on Wednesday in Aktau, the flight crew who did their best to save the passengers until the last moment are being hailed as heroes.

-snip-

Government sources have told Euronews that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan.

According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.

-snip-

Remarkable airmanship

Captain Kshnyakin had a flight experience of over 15,000 hours of which 11,200 hours as captain, according to Azerbaijan Airlines.

He and First Officer Kalyaninov displayed remarkable airmanship, according to experts, as they managed to fly the stricken plane across the Caspian Sea and crash landing just 3 kilometres short of the Aktau airport runway. Based on the footage of the crash site and the airplane wreckage, aviation experts concluded that the Embraer 190’s left horizontal stabiliser appears to be punctured by shrapnel and that the aircraft lost most of its hydraulic systems, likely including rudder control. The videos analysed by experts show the pilots were forced to vary the aircraft speed, pitching down to gain speed and climbing to slow down to be able to steer the plane, resulting in what is known as phugoid motion or an oscillation. The pilots did not seem to have the choice to land the plane softly, and they had to attempt a crash landing without being able to flare.

[janetjanet998]

Sort of reminds me of this

US Airways 1549 Miracle On The Hudson - Con Edison CCTV
January 15, 2009
https://rumble.com/v2fdimy-us-airways-1549-miracle-on-the-hudson-con-edison-cctv-january-15-2009.html

[marron]

The back end of the plane is peppered with shrapnel.

[jimtorr]

.......damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan. According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.

Based on this excerpt, it appears that the fault for the crash and the passenger deaths rests entirely with Russia. Was this an assination attempt of one of the passengers?

[SaxxonWoods]

There are some flying experts who say Sully blew it. He had time to land at a nearby airport and didn’t act until it was too late. He did make a nice water landing and everyone survived. In this case the heroic pilots are dead.

[TexasGator]

“There are some flying experts who say Sully blew it. He had time to land at a nearby airport and didn’t act until it was too late. “

What experts?

[mfish13]

Joy Reid or Behar??

[NavyShoe]

Could there have been a high value target on that plane?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

He had time to land at a nearby airport and didn’t act until it was too late.

From what I heard, it is true that the aircraft had sufficient altitude and speed to land in, Teterboro, I believe, but every experienced pilot who attempted that in a flight simulator, even though they knew what to expected, wound up crashing. In PRINCIPLE, it was just barely possible, but Sully had to make an instantaneous life or death decision, and the decision he made probably offered the best CHANCE based on his imperfect knowledge of the situation and limited time to decide.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Sully still had flight controls. It also reminds me of the Gimli Glider, but in both instances, the pilots had flight controls.

[TexasGator]

Missile hit quite away from Ukraine. Survivers very lucky.

[pfflier]

What experts?

The ones in the movie.

All reviews of the incident that I have read said he had no choice but water. The only thing he screwed up was he didn't hit the ditching switch which allowed the plane to sink more rapidly.

[nwrep]

After 8 years of the disastrous Bush Presidency, this event, happening on the heals of the Obama victory euphoria, lifted the nation’s spirits - this is the narrative I remember hearing on all channels.

[proxy_user]

They were apparently thinking they were defending Russian targets against Ukrainian drones. They probably shoot first and ask questions later.

[No name given]

Perhaps.

[alternatives?]

If the Bush years were disastrous, what were the Obama years?

[nwrep]

Restoration of the promise of America, and the dawn of hope and change - according to the media.

[Paul R.]

All in all, it looks like this was a mistake by Russian AD around Grozny. I've not seen detailed 3D tracking info. for the entire flight, but some reports claim the plane attempted to land @ Grozny 3 times before it was hit, and was denied due to fog. There may have been an active threat to Russian ground assets from Ukrainian drones, with the Russians GPS jamming to counter. The airport @ Grozny borders a heavily populated area just to the south, including Grozny itself, so, diverting to a different airport more remotely situated likely made sense if the pilots thought they could get there: Well they may have, esp. if one of the hydraulic systems was leaking slowly enough that initially they still had some control.

The one thing that doesn't entirely make sense to me is why the Russian AD would not have known from Grozny ATC that a civilian airliner had been in a holding pattern for a while (or would be departing it.) A deadly snafu...? :-(

[faucetman]

No NOT the easy landing on the Hudson with FULL control over the airplane, but The Miracle at Sioux City Iowa where the same failure of flight controls occurred.

“pilots and crew are hailed as heroes”

ABSOLUTELY HEREOS! SAVED 40 some lives.

[faucetman]

Tip: sit in the BACK of the aircraft. (behind the wings)

OR, my foolproof safety tip..... NEVER get on an airplane (or helicopter)